Seeing, feeling and exploring places and cultures of the world

An Unlikely Urban Sanctuary

Tiny palm-sized winged creatures hopped gleefully among curious visitors. Each bearing a navy blue mask around the eyes, a contrasting ribbon amid its cotton white feathers. Bedazzled eyes followed them as they tweeted and then flew away to nearby branches where cut pineapples, papayas and corns awaited them.

In spite of being the house for more than 80 bird species, Bali Starling (Leucopsar rothschildi) or Bali Myna, known as Jalak Bali or Curik Bali in its native land, was the most prominent species at the Edward Youde Aviary, an urban refuge tucked in the lush Hong Kong Park, right at the heart of the busy city. The beautiful white creatures not only were obviously well-fed, but also undaunted by human presence around them. Their relatives in Bali, however, have a different story.

In the early 20th century when the bird was first discovered by the Europeans, there were up to 900 Bali Starlings in the wilderness of Bali and smaller islands nearby – already a worrying number for the population of a single species. Illegal pet trade, driven by enormous appetite for exotic birds, nearly decimated the entire species within less than a century’s time.

In the early 2000s it was estimated that there were less than a dozen of these beautiful animals in the wild. However in the following years the ones bred in captivity were released at the West Bali National Park, increasing its population into around 50 birds. Apart from the curbing of exotic animals trade, Bali Starling’s extinction has been made a distant prospect thanks to the breeding projects in captivities and zoos around the world, from San Francisco to Bristol to Hong Kong.

Occupying a valley near Central, Hong Kong’s Edward Youde Aviary provides an unlikely safe haven for endangered birds living under its netted enclosure, just a few minutes walk away from the skyscrapers-filled downtown Hong Kong. The plethora of colorful exotic birds gives visitors a glimpse of how rich and worth-saving our planet is, and eventually raises people’s awareness of the importance of a thriving bird population out in the nature. Because some of them might have critical ecological significance we haven’t fully understood.

That’s right. Birds belong to the forest. I’ve seen a footage (I forgot whether in China or Hongkong), they sell the birds in a tiny cage and when they succeed to get customer, the bird was handed to customer in plastic a bag (yes, plastic bag).

I also love the fact that in spite of having some of the world’s tallest skyscrapers, Hong Kong has a fair share of decent public parks. Other than this park, I also enjoyed Nan Lian Garden and the Walled City Park.

I remember stumbling across the Bali Starlings at this aviary back in 2013 – I must have spent an hour or two trying to photograph them. It’s a shame we couldn’t see their wild cousins in Bali this January… we could have gone birdwatching if we had another night at The Menjangan!

If the aviary was not closing down the day we went, I would have spent more time taking photos of the birds. After seeing them myself, I could understand why you fell in love with Bali Starling at the first sight. Such playful and pretty birds they are! As for The Menjangan, even though we didn’t have enough time to go birdwatching, but at least we saw the underwater beauty of the Menjangan Island.

Sadly their cute appearance is also the reason why they became endangered. However it’s really encouraging to see successful breeding programs carried out in many zoos, as well as all across Bali. Thank you, Gara.

This is one of my favorite parks in Hong Kong for reasons you state: an oasis in this concrete jungle. I remember the first time I visited Edward Youde Aviary, I could believe my eyes (or ears). When you discussed the low populations of the Bali Starling, I was surprised as in the States the Common Starling is everywhere, and then I saw the photo ~ amazing looking bird, so different from the starlings I’m use to. Thanks for the intro Bama.

The Bali Starlings at the aviary were so friendly and curious of us as if they were showing off and trying to say “am I not pretty?”. Bird trade is a big issue in Indonesia — it’s a cultural problem and most people are unaware or ignorant of what rare bird trade has caused to bird populations in the country. Thanks for reading, Randall.

It was because of James’ post that I wanted to visit this aviary when I went to Hong Kong, and the birds were really fun to watch. Hopefully one day we’ll see its population climbs back to the number before humans started exploiting them.

Just discovered your blog, although heard of you through…where?…Jeff, James, Alison&Don. Very nicely done. Great photos. Haven’t been to Hong Kong in a very long time, used to wash up there quite often. Loved the old YMCA. Loved the ferries. Bought a string of pearls for $400, got home, appraised at $2000.

Ah yes, those are some of the bloggers I fondly follow. Wow, you should definitely come back to HK and buy more pearls and everything else. You’ll get rich by selling them at home! Thanks for dropping by by the way, and I really appreciate your comment.

The park was beautiful, very relaxing, and the birds were very playful. I would recommend anyone visiting HK to go to the aviary for a nice afternoon stroll in the otherwise busy district. Thank you, Walter.

Most of the Bali starling are confined at the zoos than in the wild. Weird that the other country are more concern about these bird. Just like Javan Sparrow (Padda oryzivora) has been released in other country like in Africa while in the wild of Indonesia is rare.
My fav photo is turtle with the flower. Did you help the turtle to reach the flower? 😉

It’s really sad to see how people treat animals. Selling birds in plastic bags? Such an ordeal for the birds. 😦 In Indonesia most people’s attitude towards birds is also very appalling. We take our beautiful country and the its wildlife for granted, and people won’t stop until there’s no more birds to catch. Very heartbreaking.